Niagara-Wheatfield school budget passes

Niagara-Wheatfield's
second vote on its $62.4 million 2013-14 school budget was successful Tuesday
night.

The vote was a
resounding 2,402 yes and 1,795 no, a far cry from last month's vote on a $62.7
million budget that failed by three votes, 1,601 no to 1,598 yes.

A total of 4,198 voters
showed up at the polls inside the high school Adult Learning Center, compared
to 3,290 voters last month.

District Clerk Robin
Vertino said the turnout was the largest she has ever seen.

"To the best of my
knowledge, the vote was the highest in the history of the district (since 1955),"
she said.

"It was great to see
that kind of a turnout," said interim Superintendent James Knowles. "We really
do appreciate the number of people who came out to vote (both for and against
the budget).

"We are extremely happy
that voters approved of our budget," Knowles said. "If it had not passed, it
would have been very difficult for the district, because we would have had to
find $1.3 million more to cut."

If the budget had been
voted down, the district would have had a contingency budget, with funds going
back to what they were in the previous year.

Newly hired
Superintendent of Schools Lynn Fusco will be starting July 1, and although
there's still plenty of work to be done, when she takes over, Knowles said, it
won't be as difficult as dealing with a contingency budget.

The approved budget
includes full-day kindergarten and the same sports program as the current
school year. Modified sports were cut from the past year's budget.